Estimating diagnostic quality of image from mr signals

Abstract

Described herein are techniques to determine whether an image that would result from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan would satisfy quality metrics, such as by being of sufficient quality to permit a diagnostic read of the image. The determination may be based on signals emitted and captured by an MRI system during the MRI scan, permitting an automated determination of quality of an image that would result from an MRI scan. Some such techniques may be performed during the MRI scan, before the completion of the MRI scan, or after the MRI scan before or after magnetic resonance data (MR data) resulting from the MRI scan has been processed to generate an image from the MR data.

1 . A method for evaluating at least one image that would result from a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan, the method comprising:
 evaluating magnetic resonance (MR) signals captured during the MRI scan;   determining a diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan, based at least in part on a result of evaluating the MR signals; and   outputting an indication of the diagnostic quality of the at least one image.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan comprises:
 comparing the result of the evaluating of the MR signals to a threshold; and   determining that the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan is non-diagnostic when the result of evaluating the MR signals exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein evaluating the MR signals captured during the MRI scan comprises determining a change in the MR signals over time. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein determining the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan comprises:
 comparing the change in the MR signals to a threshold; and   determining that the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan is non-diagnostic when the change in the MR signals exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the MR signals comprise free-induction decay (FID) navigator signals captured by two or more receiver coils during the MRI scan; and   evaluating the MR signals captured during the MRI scan comprises combining the MR signals captured by the two or more receiver coils to determine at least one first metric.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein combining the MR signals comprises combining MR signals captured for a channel, for a time, and/or for the MRI scan. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein combining the MR signals captured by the two or more receiver coils comprises determining a normalized mean absolute change in the MR signals and/or a cross correlation coefficient between projection vectors of the MR signals. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein:
 evaluating MR signals captured during the MRI scan comprises evaluating FID navigator signals captured during the MRI scan; and   evaluating the FID navigator signals captured during the MRI scan further comprises integrating the at least one first metric with respect to a number of k-space lines to determine at least one second metric.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein determining the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan comprises:
 comparing the at least one second metric to a threshold; and   determining that the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan is non-diagnostic when the at least one second metric exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan comprises determining the diagnostic quality during the MRI scan, prior to image reconstruction. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the indication of the diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan comprises outputting the indication of the diagnostic quality during the MRI scan, prior to image reconstruction. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the indication of the diagnostic quality comprises recommending intervention when the diagnostic quality is determined to be non-diagnostic. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the indication of the diagnostic quality comprises displaying data through a user interface of an MRI system. 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the MR signals comprise FID navigator signals captured during an acquisition of one or more MRI sequences, and the one or more MRI sequences comprise embedded FID navigator modules following RF excitation pulses. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein evaluating the MR signals captured during the MRI scan comprises evaluating MR signals corresponding to a center of k-space captured during an MRI scan in which the center of k-space was repeatedly sampled. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein evaluating MR signals corresponding to the center of k-space captured during an MRI scan in which the center of k-space was repeatedly sampled comprises evaluating MR signals corresponding to the center of k-space and that were captured without gradient encoding. 
     
     
         19 .- 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system configured to evaluate a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan, comprising:
 an MRI scanner;   at least one processor; and   at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one computer hardware processor to perform a method for evaluating at least one image that would result from a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan, the method comprising:
 evaluating magnetic resonance (MR) signals captured during the MRI scan; 
 determining a diagnostic quality of the at least one image that would result from the MRI scan, based at least in part on a result of evaluating the MR signals; and 
 outputting an indication of the diagnostic quality of the at least one image. 
   
     
     
         23 . A system configured to evaluate a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan, comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method for evaluating a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan, the method comprising:
 estimating motion of a subject during an MRI scan based on measured magnetic resonance (MR) signals captured during the MRI scan; 
 determining a diagnostic quality of the MRI scan based on the estimated motion; and 
 outputting an indication of the diagnostic quality of the MRI scan. 
   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein estimating the motion based on the measured MR signals captured during the MRI scan comprises estimating the motion based on measured free-induction decay (FID) navigator signals captured during the MRI scan. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein estimating the motion based on the measured MR signals captured during the MRI scan comprises estimating the motion based on measured MR signals corresponding to a center of k-space captured during an MRI scan in which the center of k-space was repeatedly sampled. 
     
     
         26 .- 30 . (canceled)